


Salt

by Tawk (tawktomahawk)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cunning Hermione, Draught of Living Death, F/M, Pre-relationship and pre-friendship, Sixth Year HBP, Warning for Suicide Ideation, breakdowns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:40:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23890216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tawktomahawk/pseuds/Tawk
Summary: “What is this, Malfoy?” Hermione asked softly. “Is it a cry for help?” His cheeks flushed beneath the tear tracks, and her eyes fell to the vial of Living Death in his fist. “Draco. Let me help.”
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 8
Kudos: 64





	Salt

**Author's Note:**

> as mentioned in the tags: warning for suicide ideation. well, kinda. but best not to risk it! <3

Hermione heard him long before she saw him. 

Prefect rounds were tedious and time-consuming, but Merlin help her; she had stumbled upon enough weeping students to recognize the wet, breathy sounds from corridors away.

It’s quite revealing: the way people cry. Loud, anguished tears. Heaving, guttural sobs. The breaking of some buried dam, such that Hermione always felt strange dipping herself into the moment. Like walking into someone’s release and interrupting their euphoric catharsis. 

Most people froze, then shattered again, their pieces breaking anew. She could sit beside them and hold their hand. She could rub a hand over the blades of their shaking shoulders. 

Malfoy was unlike the others. Hermione supposed she should have expected that. 

She’d only heard his cries because they echoed in the dungeon’s bathroom. The tea-green porcelain was everywhere beneath the castle: floors, ceilings, walls. It made a symphony out of Draco’s sadness. 

He stood before a mirror, she saw, watching from the doorway. She ensconced herself in the threshold’s shadow. Draco’s shoulders shook. Hermione tried to imagine placing her hands there, but couldn’t. 

Little muffled sobs. Little stuttered breaths. He thought he was alone, and even still he was so tightly controlled. Hermione could almost hear his sneering voice among his echoing sniffles: Quiet, Draco. What would Father think? 

Sadness pricked her. Perhaps it was pity. 

And then she noticed the vial. 

They’d brewed it not a day before. Hermione recalled the sight of him bent over his steaming cauldron. She hadn’t noticed anything amiss that day. He was as intent and precise as ever. Silent through the lesson and stone-faced while slicing his ingredients. 

The memory was hazy in Hermione’s mind. She hadn’t watched him often. She tried not to. He’d grown too pretty for the ugliness she knew festered inside, and it jolted her to see his face. His jaw was sharp when he watched his cauldron, but he set it cruelly when he looked at her. 

“Malfoy,” she said, stepping into the hazy light. 

He flinched, spun, growled. “What the fuck are you doing here, Granger?” The vial was in his fist. Uncorked. 

Hermione swallowed. “Why?” 

Malfoy scowled at her, as she knew he would. He didn’t wipe his face, and it gleamed with silvery, salty wetness. “Why what? Why am I crying? I should ask you ‘why.’ Why do you think you have any right to be here?” 

Hermione shrugged. In the echoing bathroom, she heard him ask the question twenty times. _Why do you think you have any right to be here? Why do you think you have any right to be here?_ Such a familiar question, from him. It could mean anything. 

“Here at Hogwarts? Here in the magical world? Or here in this bathroom?” 

His mouth twisted at her insolence. “Leave.” 

“I don’t think I will.” 

A tear slipped down Draco’s cheek. “Leave.” 

“What is this, Malfoy?” Hermione asked softly. “Is it a cry for help?” His cheeks flushed beneath the tear tracks, and her eyes fell to the vial of Living Death in his fist. “Draco. Let me help.”

He jerked at his name from her lips. “I—no. No, Granger. Leave.” 

“What is your plan, Draco? Let a student find your body? It’s Living Death; it won’t kill you. Snape will recognize it instantly—“ 

“I don’t care about Snape.” 

Hermione stepped closer. Malfoy stumbled back in a panic, but his eyes clung to hers. 

“What do you care about?” She whispered. His eyes fell to her lips. The whispers surrounded them— _care, care, care._ The green tile cocooned them. “It’s just us here, Draco,” Hermione continued. “Just us. You can say anything.” _Anything, anything, anything_. 

She stepped closer, and he let her. From an arm’s length away, she watched him. He blinked twice, two quick brushes of his tear-damp lashes against his high cheeks. His mouth opened and closed. One more step. His knuckles whitened around the vial of Living Death. 

“It’s too much,” he finally breathed. Hermione breathed, too, reflecting him, and came as close as she could. “It’s too m-much,” he stuttered. “And I can’t ask for help or he’ll know, and if I fail then he’ll know, and if I run then he’ll find me. There’s no way up. Or out or through. There’s just me, and I’m in the dark—I am the Dark—“ 

Hermione placed her hands on his shoulders. They were as pointy and sharp as she’d imagined, but warm, too. Warm in the cold bathroom and untouched by his tears. 

“Why do you want to take the Draught?” Hermione asked him, voice firm. 

Draco gasped at the air for a moment. She stared at him until he gathered himself. “Why?” She repeated. His shoulders flexed beneath her palms. He brought his free hand up to clutch her forearm. 

“Snape,” Draco said. His voice was small and unsure. 

“What about him?” Hermione snapped. His grip on her arm tightened. 

“He’d find me. Or a student would, and they’d bring me to him.” 

“And why do you want that?” 

“Because he’d know it wasn’t real. But he’d know what it means. He’d know I need help—“

“Would Snape help you?” 

“I don’t know.” 

Hermione shook his shoulders. “Why Snape?” 

“He’d do something.” 

“Something for Voldemort?” Draco flinched at her words and dropped his hand. She clutched at his shoulders and followed him when he tried to step away. “Draco, something for Him or something for us?”

Draco was crying again. “I don’t know.” _I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know_. 

“Then what’s the point?” Hermione slid her hands from his shoulders up his neck. Her palms framed his slick face. Her fingertips felt his hair. Draco stilled beneath her. His wide eyes froze on hers. 

“What if Snape does the right thing?” Draco asked. “Or if he sees that I can’t do it, and he does it for me? It’s a way out, Granger, don’t you see?” His free hand came to grip her face, too. “It’s a way out without admitting defeat. Come on, Granger, don’t you see?” 

Hermione took a deep breath. His pretty face was so close now, just below the pads of her fingers, and she pressed them to his brow bone, tracing the blonde hairs. “Yes, Draco,” she murmured. “I see.” 

His hand fell from her face. He stepped away, and she let him. 

“Leave, Granger.” Draco clutched the vial of Living Death and prepared to bring it to his lips. “Snape will find me. I’ll be fine.” 

Hermione nodded. “He’ll help you.” 

“He’ll help,” Draco confirmed. 

She stepped away, walking backwards until she reached the door. Her padding steps bounced around the room. She paused before turning. “I won’t tell anyone. I promise.” 

“Leave.” 

Hermione fled. She sped down the corridor. 

And paused at its end. She listened closely, as she’d learned to do so well during rounds. A thud sounded as Draco’s body hit the floor. 

_Snape might help me,_ she heard echoed in her memory. Perhaps. But Dumbledore would help him better. 

And Hermione could help Draco best.

Dumbledore’s office was floors above her, and Snape would have to be intercepted along the way. She wiped her palms against her robes and ran. 

Foolish, desperate Malfoy. 

She’d kill his project and save his soul in one night. 

**Author's Note:**

> I’m currently working on a multi-chapter Dramione fic, so I thought I’d introduce myself beforehand vis-à-vis a quick HBP blurb. Hello to you all!


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